For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic
by ScruffyLovin
Summary: A simple trip into town goes wrong when Jack and Sam are held hostage inside a bank in Minnesota.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **A simple trip into town goes wrong when Jack and Sam are held hostage inside a bank in Minnesota.

**Timeframe: **You decide. ;)

**Characters/Pairing: **Established SJ, Daniel, Teal'c

**Genre: **Drama, Action/Adventure

**Rating: **T (mild violence/language)

**Note: **Written as a Secret Santa gift for _**annerbhp **_over at the sj_everyday LiveJournal community.

**For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic**

**Part One**

"This looks like it's going to be bad," Sam said softly, gesturing toward the television and glancing up as Jack came around the couch and handed her a mug of coffee.

On the morning news, the weather was showing a bad storm aiming straight for the small town of Silver Creek Minnesota, twenty miles out from Jack's cabin.

Jack sat beside her on the couch, his own mug of hot coffee in hand. He absently pulled a hand through hair that was still damp from his recent shower. "If we head up to town now, before the storm hits, we should be alright with the truck."

Sam nodded and leaned a little closer to him, loving the way he smelled just out of the shower. She sat up straighter and turned, peering out to the kitchen area where Teal'c and Daniel sat at the table, eating their breakfast and reading the paper. "Are you guys just going to hang around here while we run some errands?"

Daniel finished chewing the piece of toast in his mouth and nodded. "Yeah, we'll hang here. We'll go out and get some more firewood to bring in before it starts to snow, right Teal'c?"

"Indeed." Teal'c gave a nod and reached for a section of newspaper.

Sam smiled, having to wonder if the guys were just staying to give her and Jack some time by themselves. They hadn't gotten much time alone since Teal'c and Daniel met them in Minnesota for a little pre-Christmas team vacation.

Jack got up from the couch, finished his coffee, and started to put on his boots. "We better stock up on the non-perishables in case we get snowed in." He shrugged into his coat and went to get his keys. "I'll warm the truck up."

Smiling at him, Sam took her mug over to the sink and went to find her own boots. She felt a little bad for ditching the guys, but she and Jack had only had one day together before they'd arrived. Sam was eager for a little alone time with Jack, even if they were only out running errands.

.

"Bank first?" Jack asked as they drove through the center of town when they'd finally reached civilization again. It had started to snow heavily on their ride in, and took even longer than normal to travel the twenty miles into town.

"Yeah, that's fine." Sam looked up as the truck pulled into the town bank's parking lot. There was already at least five inches of snow on the ground, and it was piling up fast.

"This storm is hitting a lot faster than I thought," Jack murmured as he killed the ignition and unbuckled his seatbelt.

Sam grimaced slightly, a little worried that they were going to have trouble on the drive back. After the bank they needed to stop at the grocery store and pack up on food just in case they got snowed in at the cabin. She watched Jack flip up the collar of his jacket before stepping out of the warm cab, then opened the door and did the same.

.

The small town bank wasn't crowded, but Sam suspected it never really was, even without inclement weather. Jack was by the west wall, filling out a withdrawal slip on the small table while Sam got in line behind an elderly man and a woman about her own age.

When the door behind her opened, sending a chill up her spine, the hair at the back of Sam's neck stood on end, and it wasn't just from the cold air that blew in. She glanced quickly back at Jack, noticing he'd completely stopped what he was doing, his dark eyes sharp and fixated on those that had just walked in the bank doors.

As Sam turned around, it was obvious what was going on. Four people wearing navy coveralls, tool belts, and miscellaneous Halloween masks had just entered the bank. One of them immediately spray painted the lenses of the security cameras at the front of the building, and another swiftly disarmed the old security guard, taking his taser and throwing the poor guy to the floor. There were four robbers; an alien, a rabbit, a gorilla, and bigfoot. And they were all armed with various weapons.

While the robber with the gorilla mask began shouting orders, Sam's brain clicked into soldier-mode and she immediately slid her cell phone out from her purse, tucking it into the front waistband of her jeans before getting down on the floor as they were all told to do. She put her head down and prayed that Jack didn't do anything stupid or foolishly heroic.

.

Jack's eyes were alert and calculating as he put his chin to the marble floor with his arms spread out front, and watched the rabbit go around patting everyone down, collecting jackets and cell phones. When Sam's eyes locked onto his, he silently conveyed assurance that he wasn't about to do anything stupid and hoped she believed him. If they were going to get out of this, he had to stay below the radar as long as possible. They both did.

"You!" Jack looked up sharply as the robber in the big foot mask pointed at the balding middle-aged man whose silver blazer tag clearly marked him as the bank manager. Bigfoot grabbed a pen and blank piece of paper off a desk and thrust it at the quaking man. "Write exactly what I tell you."

Jack's brows furrowed slightly as he listened to the robber's orders. Bigfoot told the manager to write 'Bank Temporarily Closed Due to Electrical Problems' and tape it to the door. The robber watched the man's every move, and then told the guy to lock the door, close the blinds and pull the shades down.

The man in the gorilla mask kept his shotgun trained on all the hostages, but the other two had disappeared from Jack's line of sight. He assumed they were checking the bank for hidden hostages, silent alarms, and other entrances and exits so they could be secured. Well, if they were smart, that was what they were doing, Jack thought absently.

He tensed slightly as the main lights were suddenly all turned off, the remaining lights giving the bank a dull early dawn type glow. He knew it was to back up the 'Electrical Problems' story for any passersby, and quickly came to the conclusion they weren't just up against some dumb rednecks out for a few bucks. These guys knew exactly what they were doing. They had a plan.

.

Sam couldn't help the brief feeling of relief that swept over her when she and the other hostages were all rounded up together, sitting on the floor in a row against the far wall. Sitting beside Jack, shoulder to shoulder against the smooth granite wall helped to calm her racing heart and mind. Now was not the time to let fears overwhelm her; now was the time to act as though she were in battle. She needed to be poised and ready for anything.

The two robbers in the alien mask and the gorilla mask took the bank manager and went down into the basement after demanding entrance to the vault. Rabbit and Bigfoot were left, Bigfoot keeping an eye out, circling the largest areas and occasionally peering outside through the blinds while Rabbit watched the hostages.

Sam noticed that Rabbit's watchful eye was a bit lax. She immediately pegged him as the weak leak, and with a sideways glance at Jack, knew that he was thinking the same thing.

Glancing at the other hostages—there were eight of them altogether, including her and Jack—Sam could see the male bank teller was getting a little antsy. He looked like he was about to do something stupid. And she was right.

As soon as Rabbit turned his back on them and lowered his gun arm, the bank teller made his move. He lunged and grabbed for the robber's hand, fighting to gain control of the gun. The next moments happened in a blur. There was screaming and yelling, most of the hostages trying to get up in a panic until Bigfoot came running toward them, waving his gun and yelling for everyone to stay down. Sam took her eyes off Rabbit and the teller's struggle, and suddenly Jack was throwing her down on the floor, covering her body with his own a split second before she heard the gun go off.

The sound of the ricochet hitting the granite so near to her and Jack chilled Sam to the core, but not more than the sharp grunt in her ear immediately after. _Oh God. _She twisted around and sat up, Jack falling to his side behind her, clutching an oozing bullet hole in his right thigh. "Jack," she cried, biting her trembling lower lip.

"Oh shit, oh no. Oh God." Rabbit was pacing frantically, gun still in his hand as Bigfoot grabbed the teller's arm and pushed him back to the floor with the other hostages.

"You idiot!" Bigfoot growled, glancing briefly at Jack before smacking Rabbit upside the head and nearly dislodging his mask.

The alien and gorilla masked robbers came running. "What the hell is going on?" The alien yelled angrily, and only then did Sam realize that the person with that mask was a women.

"Your stupid brother almost got ambushed by that one tryin' to be a damn hero," Bigfoot waved a frantic arm to the now-cowering male bank teller, "And he shot a fricking hostage!" He now waved at Jack.

Sam hovered over Jack protectively, trying to help stem the flow of blood from his wound. She worked up some sharp, frantic breaths and sobs for dramatic effect.

"AGH! You _idiot!_" The alien rushed at Rabbit and shoved him hard. She ripped the gun out of his hand and stuffed it in the back of her tool belt.

"I'm sorry, Weaver, I'm sorry!" Rabbit cringed away from the angry woman.

"Where's the guard's taser?" The alien—Weaver—looked around at the other two men. Bigfoot held it out to her and she thrust it into Rabbit's shaking hands. "Take this, and dammit, don't shoot anyone else! Keep an eye on everyone. Use the zip ties to restrain some of them if you have to."

Rabbit nodded meekly as Weaver and the gorilla returned to the vault and Bigfoot went back to wandering around the bank, keeping guard.

"Okay. That hurts," Jack grunted in pain, writhing a little on the floor as Sam pressed down on the bleeding hole in his leg.

She smiled tightly at him. "Not the best time to take a bullet, Jack," Sam joked half-heartedly.

He snorted. "Tell me about it."

Sam looked up sharply when Rabbit came scampering toward them, crouching down but keeping his distance.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about this. No one was supposed to get hurt." Sam saw his surprisingly gentle-looking green eyes crinkling through the eye holes in his mask, and figured he was grimacing.

"Hmph, that's what they always say," Jack muttered derisively without looking at the young man.

"Jack," Sam admonished in a harsh whisper, though the robber crouched in front of them said nothing in rebuke. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Um, can I—uh—can I help somehow? I mean—ah…" Rabbit blabbered uncomfortably, staring down at Jack's injured leg. "Oh God."

"I need to stop this bleeding. Maybe there's a First Aid kit around or something with some bandages?" Sam practically pleaded with the young man.

"There's a First Aid kit in the break room closet," the female teller offered timidly. "In the back."

"Ah—uh—okay. I'll…I'll get it." Rabbit stood up and then called for Bigfoot, smart enough to know he shouldn't just leave the hostages by themselves.

Sam grimaced apologetically down at Jack, brushing her free hand through his short, spiky hair.

His eyes were dark, but determined and he whispered confidently, "We're gonna get outta this, Carter."

She had to believe him. They would figure a way out of this; Jack alone had escaped a Goa'uld System Lord's fortress, for crying out loud! Sam figured they could defeat some run-of-the-mill bank robbers.

The other hostages were anxiously huddled nearby, but curiously keeping their distance from Jack and Sam. The male bank teller that had tried to grab Rabbit's gun was guiltily pressed against the hard granite wall with his legs tucked up tight against his chest. It looked like he was avoiding looking over at her and Jack at all costs. After all, he _was_ partially responsible for Jack getting shot.

Sam tensed as Bigfoot pulled some black plastic zip ties from his belt, but relaxed slightly when the only hostages he tied up were the male teller, security guard, and bank manager. She figured the robber was pegging those three as the most dangerous, not thinking the elderly man or the two other women were a threat. Jack was shot and she was sticking with him, so to Bigfoot, they weren't a threat either. He couldn't have been more wrong.

When Rabbit came back with a First Aid kit, taking all the gauze out and handing everything to her with shaking hands, Sam immediately ripped open the packages of the pressure bandages and pressed down on Jack's wound. He hissed in pain, and she turned to the robber, hoping to further gain some compassion by showing her appreciation of his efforts. "Thank you."

Rabbit nodded, then glanced at Bigfoot briefly, who gave the hostages all a sweeping look before turning around and walking toward one of the windows. He peeked between the blinds and muttered, "Gettin' pretty bad out there, Rab. I'm gonna go talk to Weaver."

Sam felt a little safer with Bigfoot gone, and noticed the other hostages relaxing marginally. Rabbit gave them some space, walking off to pace the floor, but he didn't go far.

Jack sat up with a grunt and pushed himself back to lean against the wall. "Where'd bunny boy, go? Maybe we could get him to order us a pizza or somethin', he's been so hospitable so far," he muttered sourly, but Sam knew it was mostly the pain talking.

"Jack," she admonished with some exasperation.

He huffed out a breath, momentarily closing his eyes as she used the gauze roll to secure some bandages to his wound, wrapping it tightly around his leg. "I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time taking this too seriously when we're being robbed by Thor and Sasquatch."

Sam snorted and pressed her lips together as she tried not to laugh at the image that conjured up. She sobered quickly when she again thought about the seriousness of their situation. With the increasingly bad weather conditions outside, it looked like they were going to be stuck with their captors for longer than any of them would have liked. Since Rabbit seemed to be keeping his distance, Sam started to contemplate their little ace in the hole. Her cell phone—with alerts and volume shut off, thankfully—was still tucked away inside the front of her jeans. If she could get to it before Bigfoot got back, and without Rabbit noticing, she might be able to get a text message out to Daniel.

"_Sam."_

Looking up at Jack, she realized he could see what she was doing and his eyes shifted subtly to the other hostages. She nodded, understanding his meaning. If any of them saw what she was up to, they might unintentionally give her away. She was going to have be patient for now.

With her phone concealed carefully with her hand, she pulled it out from her jeans and stuck it into the front pocket of Jack's navy cargo pants, which were baggy enough to conceal it if they made him get up. He nodded at her, and she sent him a small smile.

Sam sat back against the wall when Bigfoot came back and pulled Rabbit aside. She strained to hear what they were saying to each other, just barely making out the quietly spoken words.

"_What's going on?" _Rabbit asked, fidgeting on his feet.

"_We're in trouble, pal. Weaver and Kong are gonna pack up the van, but conditions aren't lookin' good. Got a blizzard out there. The good news, though, is hopefully the armored truck is gonna be delayed if it can get here at all."_

"_What if it's not?"_

"_Then we're screwed. The truck will come to pick up the money, but there's no money 'cuz we got the money. We're screwed." _

Sam's attention slid to Jack, briefly. He was picking up on it too.

"_If we can't get outta this snow storm, we're gonna hafta hang around a while longer than we planned," _Bigfoot muttered irritably, then wandered off again.

Rabbit started his pacing once more, occasionally stopping to peer out between the blinds, checking on the weather or looking out for the armored truck, who knew?

.


	2. Chapter 2

**For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic**

**Part Two**

The hostages all sat for a couple of hours, everyone afraid to move. They were all anxious and tension was high. Sam tried to help keep everyone calm by engaging in soft conversation. She first broke the ice with some introductions, and learned the hostages names. The woman Sam's age was Alice, the elderly man was Terry, the security guard a few years older than Jack was Reggie, the two young bank tellers were Patrick and Megan, and the bank manager was William. Since they were talking softly, and weren't getting yelled at by Rabbit because of it, Sam thought it was helping to soothe some very frazzled nerves. Things had been especially tense since Jack was shot.

Speaking of Jack, Sam turned to check on him, noticing that he'd gotten pretty quiet. His breathing was shallow, but steady, and he was noticeably pale. His dark eyes were trained on her sluggishly, and she noticed that the dark stain on his right thigh had spread, soaking the bandage. She frowned worriedly and touched his cool cheek.

Jack struggled to smile. "I'm good…Carter."

Her brows furrowed, and Sam pursed her lips as her lower lip quivered. She shook her head. "No Jack, you're not."

"Is your fella gonna be alright there, young lady?" The old man—Terry—asked softly, leaning a little away from the hard granite wall and peering over with concern.

Sam grimaced and sighed, lowly muttering, "Not if I can't do something about this."

Jack's eyes met hers, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. If they didn't get the bullet out of his thigh he was probably going to bleed to death.

Clenching her teeth, Sam knew what she had to do. "Excuse me," she called loudly, trying to gain Rabbit's attention. He jerked and hesitantly strode toward them, holding onto his taser.

"Listen," he began nervously. "I'm sorry, this will all be over in a couple of hours." Rabbit started to walk away again and Sam called him back, pointing at Jack.

"If I don't do something _now,_ he won't have a couple of hours." Sam said desperately.

"What?" Rabbit asked, confused. "What…what do you mean?"

"His leg is still bleeding. I need to get the bullet out."

The robber gulped audibly. "Oh. Um… Hold on, I just have to—hold on." Rabbit started to walk away, mumbling nervously to himself. "Oh shit, oh shit." Then, Sam heard him call for Bigfoot, who then came to watch everyone as she heard Rabbit say he needed to go talk to Weaver.

Sam picked up Jack's hand, her own still stained with his blood from before. "It'll be okay, Jack. Hang in there."

He smiled at her, weakly. "Yes…ma'am."

When Rabbit came back after a few minutes with the First Aid kit, Sam looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Okay, you two come with me and we'll take care of this." He pointed at her and Jack and then turned to Bigfoot. "Harry, Weaver said to tell you to keep an eye on everyone while I watch these two."

Bigfoot—Harry, apparently—nodded and stood in front of the hostages, holding his gun in an intimidating pose.

"I need help," Sam told Rabbit as she tried to get Jack up. She forced her voice to shake, wanting Rabbit to think she was way too scared to try anything.

"Um…okay."

After Rabbit helped her get Jack to his feet, Sam wrapped her arm around Jack's waist and pulled his left arm across his shoulders. Then Rabbit pointed his taser at them and directed them toward an office.

When Rabbit moved some chairs and shoved the desk against the wall to make room, Sam carefully helped Jack lie on the floor.

"Do you know what to do?" Rabbit asked nervously, leaning against the desk and appearing to keep as far away as possible.

"I'm going to get the bullet out," she said bluntly feeling a little angry and frustrated at the moment. Jack sat up, but Sam pushed on his shoulder and got him to lie back down.

Sam found a small pair of scissors in the First Aid kit, and used them to cut away the bloody bandage around Jack's thigh as well as some of his pants around the wound so she could get better access. The blood welled up steadily, and as Sam pressed around the wound to see if she could glimpse the bullet at all, Jack groaned in pain and slammed a fist down on the carpeted floor, swearing under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Jack." Sam briefly pressed her hand against his forehead in a soothing gesture. She noticed that Rabbit was looking away, and guessed him to be a little squeamish. Digging through the First Aid kit again, Sam discovered a pair of tweezers and quickly sterilized them using what she'd found in the kit. She poured iodine over the bullet hole and then prepared to use the tweezers, wishing there was morphine—or at the very least, Novocain—in the kit. Undoing the leather belt around her waist, Sam took it off and then folded it, instructing Jack to open his mouth and hold it between his teeth.

She sent him a silent apology for what she was about to do, and Jack's dark brown eyes shone back with understanding, communicating, _Do what you have to._

Jack bucked in pain as Sam began digging with the tweezers, and she felt real tears stinging in her eyes as she worked to find the bullet. He screamed around the leather between his teeth, and Sam worked as quickly and carefully as possible. Jack pounded his fists on the floor, obviously trying not to move too much, his head tossing back against the floor in pain.

"Almost there, almost there," she chanted, finally finding what she was searching for. Pinching the tweezers, Sam then began to carefully extract the bullet, then finally exclaimed, "It's out!" She released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "It's out."

Jack fell back limply, spitting the leather belt out of his mouth and breathing hard.

Sam looked up suddenly when she heard Rabbit mutter, "Oh God," and quickly run out of the room, presumably to throw up. Seeing a window of opportunity, Sam quickly pressed a temporary bandage to Jack's wound and reached into his opposite pocket with her free hand, taking out her phone. "Hang on, Jack." She flipped it open swiftly and texted as fast as she could; _**Bank robry, hostges. **_After sending the message to Daniel, she quickly slipped the phone back into Jack's pocket.

When Sam heard Rabbit returning, she carefully went back to cleaning Jack's wound, packing it with gauze and wrapping it up as best as she could. Jack's eyes were closed as she worked, but she couldn't tell if he was unconscious or not. His hands were still clenched into tight fists at his sides, and his chest rose and fell with each rapid breath.

Sam jumped slightly when Bigfoot—_Harry_—showed up at the office door, leaning in but facing the hostages to keep them covered.

"Rabbit, if you're done in here get these two back with the others, I need to go help Weaver and Kong."

"Yeah, okay." Rabbit still sounded a little shaky and queasy. _Good, _Sam thought. He deserved to feel like crap. He may not be as bad as the rest of their captors seemed, but he was still part of this thing, still responsible for the outcome, whatever that may be.

.

Jack felt very lightheaded as Sam and the robber got him on his feet more or less. Then as Rabbit stepped away, he was left leaning heavily on Sam, limping along back with the other hostages at a snails pace. He felt awful. Pain and blood loss was making him woozy, and once he was sitting back down, he thought he might pass out.

Sam was kneeling next to him where he leaned against the cold granite wall, gripping tightly to his left hand. "Can we have some water?" she entreated to their captor.

Even Jack could see the water cooler at the end of a cubicle near the bank door. He was suddenly thirsty. And freezing. _God, _he was freezing. A shudder ran through him and he clenched Sam's hand.

"Hey, old man," Rabbit said, pointing to Terry with his taser, then swinging it over to the cooler. "Go over there and bring some water for everyone, okay? Take as many trips as you need."

The elderly man nodded and struggled to get up from the hard floor. Alice got up to help him stand and then quickly sat back down.

"Don't try anything, got it?" Rabbit commanded, though his voice had softened as he watched Terry shuffle slowly toward the cooler.

"Whatever you say, sonny," the old man murmured compliantly.

Sam's hand slid out of his to cup the side of his face. He leaned into her warm hand and let out an involuntary groan. Sam turned back to their captor. "Can he have his jacket?"

"Why?" Rabbit jerked edgily.

"I need to get him warmed up or he's going to go into shock." Sam's voice was sharp, exasperated. She sucked in a breath. _"Please." _

Rabbit hesitated momentarily, and then said, "I'll get him _a _jacket. It might not necessarily be his, how about that?" The guy wasn't stupid. He didn't trust Sam to go rummaging in the jacket pile just for a specific coat.

"It's fine. Anything," Sam replied.

Jack lazily tracked the robber's movements as he backed toward the jacket pile in the center of the room, keeping one eye on all the hostages. Bending down, with his taser pointed at everyone, he grabbed the largest jacket and walked back over to them, checking the pockets before handing it to Sam. It happened to be the security guard's coat, Jack noticed. He didn't care, as long as it made him warm.

Sam took the insulated coat and draped it over Jack's chest, tucking it around his shoulders like a blanket. She smiled tightly at him and rubbed at his upper arms, attempting to generate some warmth. "Better?" she whispered, her brows furrowed with apprehension.

"Hrm." Jack found it in himself to give a short nod, but what he really wanted to do was sleep. So he did.

.

Jack was still passed out by the time two other robbers showed up so the hostages could take trips to the bathroom. The man wearing the gorilla mask, "Kong," took the men to the bathroom first, one by one, and then switched with Weaver so she could take the women. Rabbit had been given orders to go outside and clear as much snow off their van as possible. Sam overheard Weaver tell Harry to go with him to look out for passersby, or the armored truck.

When it was her turn to be taken to the bathroom, Sam was reluctant to leave Jack.

"It's now or never," Weaver told her impatiently.

"I can sit with him while you're gone," Alice offered, gesturing toward Jack and then looking to their captors for permission. "If that's okay."

"Whatever. Let's go, lady." Weaver pulled Sam up by the arm while Alice got up and quickly took her place beside Jack.

.

Sam couldn't have been gone for more than a few minutes, but when Weaver was taking her back to the others, she was immediately aware of the screams and shouting, Jack's voice among them.

"_Where's Sam? What did you do with her!" _

"_I said shut up and stay DOWN!" _

Without thinking, Sam pulled away from Weaver's grip on her arm and ran toward the hostages. She saw Jack trying to get up, and then Kong hitting him in the face with the butt of his shotgun. "STOP!" she cried out, sliding to her knees beside Jack as he fell back against the wall, dazed. Sam leaned over him protectively. "Don't hurt him, he's just confused!"

Kong leveled his shotgun at them, and Sam heard Alice and Megan scream while Reggie yelled "Don't!" She saw that William and Patrick had shocked, anxious looks on their faces, unable to do much with their hands tied, and Terry looked like he wanted to get up and give the criminal a good thwacking.

Weaver clamped her hand down on Kong's shoulder. "Kong! Put your gun down." As the man lowered his shotgun and reluctantly turned and walked away, Sam became aware that Weaver was definitely the leader here, but Kong was much more dangerous. He was unpredictable; the wild card. Sam could see that he was only following Weaver's orders for now, and wondered what it would take for him to snap. "The rest of you; sit down and shut up!"

Sam lightly held Jack's face between her hands. There was a small cut on his right cheekbone that was swelling and bruising quite rapidly. "Are you okay?"

"Hm." He offered a sharp nod, and the furrow between his brows deepened. "Where'd they…take you?" Jack sounded pretty out of it.

"Just to the bathroom," she told him reassuringly. "You were unconscious. They've been taking us all one by one."

Jack relaxed a little, slowly leaning back against the wall as Sam's hands slid away from his face. He met her eyes, conveying the urgency that things would turn out alright. They had to, Sam thought to herself. She wasn't going to lose this; wasn't going to lose _them_. They'd come too far, been through too much.

She slid up against the wall beside him, grabbing his hand that rested on the floor and giving it a squeeze. Leaning into Jack's shoulder, she sighed softly, watching Weaver pull Kong aside and whisper something to him. The longer the robbers had to stay because of the weather, the tenser things seemed to get. Sam prayed that Daniel had received her text message. With Kong hovering over them now, she wouldn't be able to get to the phone in Jack's pocket to check if he'd responded.

Feeling Jack shudder beside her, Sam moved to adjust the jacket that was draped over him. She settled beside him again, pulling his left hand into her lap and holding it with both of her own. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she sighed. Things were starting to get desperate. The robbers have had control of the bank for quite a few hours now; everyone was tense and getting tired and hungry. It wasn't a good situation for anyone.

.

"Weaver!"

Sam jerked against Jack's shoulder as Kong yelled from the window. She couldn't believe she'd been half dozing. She glanced sideways at Jack, pleased to him awake. He even looked a little better having gotten a little rest, but was still pale from the blood he'd already lost. Her eyes flicked down to his injured leg; it looked like the bleeding had stopped, thankfully.

Sitting up straight, Sam realized she was still clinging to his hand. She felt his digits give hers a gentle squeeze, and looked over to see Jack sending her a little smile.

They both turned their attention to the window where Weaver was standing with Kong. "Plows are coming." Sam heard Weaver say with satisfaction.

Then, seconds later, Kong tapped on the window and growled, "Yeah, and look who's right behind them. DAMMIT." He slammed his fist against the wall.

Between the blinds, Sam could just make out the flashing of red and blue lights. She smiled widely at Jack and whispered, "Daniel got the message."

Jack offered a lopsided grin. "Sweet."

"Shit!" Weaver and Kong stormed away from the window, then turned as Rabbit and Harry came running from the back.

"The van's cleared, and the plows are on the way, but we've got a problem!" Harry said as he ran up, breathless.

"We know," Weaver growled, clenching her pistol and pacing back and forth in front of the window.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Rabbit cried anxiously.

Sam leaned her head back against the hard granite and blew out a breath. Things may have just gotten a whole lot worse instead of better. Now with the Sheriff and half the county's police force outside, their captors were sure to become increasingly testy with their escape plan completely blown to hell.

"Go double check to make sure all the exits and windows are secure, and nobody can see inside. We'll keep the lighting down to a minimum," Weaver ordered, pointing to Kong and Harry. The two masked men quickly took off to attend to their duties.

Sam handed Jack the water in the paper cup she'd left on the floor nearby, urging him to drink something. They were both warily keeping their eyes on Weaver, who appeared to be getting increasingly agitated. She must have been coming to the realization that there was really no way out of this.

The sound of a somewhat-distant gunshot ripped through the air and Sam stiffened, her blue eyes flicking to Jack. The other hostages were looking around with trepidation.

"What the hell was that?" Weaver cried out, moments before Kong stormed over, gripping his shotgun tightly, a handgun that hadn't been there before stuck in the back of his belt.

Sam noticed, with alarm that the crazed robber was holding "Harry's" bigfoot mask in his left hand. He angrily threw it at Weaver's feet. "He was a fucking COP!"

Both Weaver and Rabbit froze, then Weaver picked up the mask to find it spattered with blood. "So you killed him?" she barked incredulously.

"He pulled his goddamn gun on me, what the hell did you want me to do?"

"Oh man, oh man, oh _CHRIST!_" Rabbit muttered, pacing nervously and holding the back of his neck with one hand. "You killed a cop!"

Sam's eyes darted to Jack again, trying to block out the sound of the robbers yelling at one another. This was bad. Very bad. "How are you feeling?" she whispered urgently.

He gave her a steady nod and said, just as quietly, "I'm good to go."

She pursed her lips. "That's not what I was asking."

"I know." Jack squeezed her hand, the look in his eyes telling her all she needed to know. They were going to have to fight their way out of this situation, and despite his injury, he was prepared to do that. Colonel Jack O'Neill to the very core.

Sam knew that things were getting desperate; they couldn't solely rely on the law to get them and the other hostages out of this safely. "Kong" was a loose canon. He'd already killed a cop; who knew what he'd do next.

When things started to settle, the frightened whimpers of some of the other hostages deadening down to hitched breathing, and the three remaining robbers keeping their distance from one another, their agitated pacing slowing, Jack gave Sam a gentle nudge.

Her eyes flicked to him—questioning, nervous. _"Jack?"_ she whispered._ "What are you going to do?" _was the unasked question.

Jack pulled himself up a little straighter with a grunt, then reached for her hand on the floor and gave it a brief, tight squeeze. He flashed her a crooked grin and whispered, _"Trust me." _

Sam was feeling a little edgy when Jack waved a hand in the air and called out to Kong, trying to get the robber's attention. She clenched her teeth as Kong sauntered over with his shotgun.

"I gotta take a leak," Jack told him, his voice low and raspy. He leaned toward Sam and in a hushed whisper said, _"Be ready."_

Sam fought the urge to react to his words in some way.

"Take him," Weaver said, nodding at Kong and sending Rabbit to stand by the window to keep an eye on the police outside.

Jack struggled to get up, and she went to help, but Weaver firmly warned her to stay put. She sat back reluctantly as Kong grabbed Jack by the arm and hauled him to his feet. Sam's brows furrowed as she watched them walk off; Jack was horribly unsteady—he was faking it. It became clear to her that this was all going to end very soon. Sam was prepared to do whatever it took to keep the other hostages—and Jack—safe.

.

Jack over-exaggerated his weakness as Kong practically dragged him to the men's room, leaving him to stand in front of the urinal while the criminal remained at his elbow, facing the opposite wall. Although he had a plan, Jack really needed to relieve himself first, and did so quickly before he really _was_ too weak to stay on his feet.

Confident that Sam would do what she needed to do when the time came, Jack zipped his fly and then faked a stagger. Kong grabbed his arm, his shotgun barrel lowered, and Jack quickly threw a hard elbow into the masked man's face, effectively breaking his nose.

Kong yelled out in pain, and when Jack saw the barrel of the shotgun rise, he quickly grabbed it, jerking it out of Kong's hand and bashing him in the side of the head with the stock. Kong dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes and Jack leaned over to take the zip ties from the man's belt.

.

As soon as there was a yell from down the hall, and Weaver spun around, revealing the extra revolver tucked into the back of her belt, Sam was certain that this was what Jack had meant when he'd told her to be ready. Still carefully keeping Rabbit in mind—he was still armed with that taser—Sam sprung to her feet, grabbed the gun from Weaver, and had her in a chokehold before anyone could blink.

"Hey!" Rabbit yelled out, swinging his taser toward Sam, his green eyes wide and frightened behind the mask.

"Drop the gun!" Sam yelled into Weaver's ear, yanking the mask off her head and pressing the confiscated gun to her temple. A mop of messy auburn hair fell down around the robber's shoulders. Sam couldn't see her face as she was standing behind the woman, but imagined a very angry expression there. "Drop it," Sam said again, her voice low—deadly.

Weaver put the gun down, but apparently wasn't ready to give up. "SHOOT HER!" she yelled to her brother.

Sam could see the young man's arms shaking as he aimed the taser. "I—I can't! I'll hit you, too!"

"JUST DO IT!" Weaver growled.

Taking a look at the trembling younger brother in the bunny mask, Sam honestly didn't think he had it in him to pull the trigger. She'd been wrong.

When Rabbit fired, one of the probes hit Sam in the shoulder while the other got his sister in the chest, effectively disabling the both of them. For a split second, after she hit the ground and the gun slipped from a nerveless hand, Sam considered that this whole thing might all be over. She hadn't gotten the entire voltage, but damn if it didn't hurt!

Unable to move for several long, agonizing seconds, Sam cursed under her breath when Rabbit dropped the taser to the floor and shakily stepped forward to reach for both of the fallen pistols. Then the sound of a shotgun being cocked caught her attention.

"Don't even think about it."

Rabbit froze, his hand inches away from one of the guns. Sam rested her head on the hard floor and smiled. Jack limped toward them, armed with Kong's shotgun. She still couldn't move, but she looked up and caught Jack's eyes; they were cold—hard. No doubt because they'd hurt her. That had been a mistake.

Jack bent painfully to retrieve the handguns, but didn't stop beside her. She knew he couldn't check on her until the robbers were secure; Sam didn't take offense. She would have done the same if their roles had been reversed.

With all the weapons accounted for, Jack tossed the pack of zip ties to Alice and asked her to hogtie Weaver and Rabbit together. Rabbit had his mask pulled off, revealing a confused young face and a shaved head. His green eyes darted between Jack and Sam. "Who the hell _are _you people?"

Sam managed to sit herself up now, winking over at Jack and then smirking smugly at Rabbit. "The United States Air Force."

.

Slumping down on the hard floor beside Sam once Rabbit and Weaver were secure, Jack drew her into his arms and pulled her cell phone from his pocket. Breathing hard as a wave of nausea and dizziness washed over him, Jack called up Daniel on speed dial and waited for an answer.

"_Jack?" _Daniel's voice picked up incredulously.

"Hey Danny," Jack rasped, his strength fading and exhaustion washing over him as the adrenaline faded.

"_Me and Teal'c are outside the bank with the Sheriff and half the county's police force. What the hell is going on?"_

"The hostages…are safe, an' all the…robbers are…secure." Jack breathed in and out heavily. "Send 'em in."

.

Sam felt Jack's arms loosen around her as her strength returned, the effects of the taser wearing off. She looked down and noticed that the bandage on his leg was soaked with blood. Feeling her heartbeat speed up, she sat up straighter and twisted around. "Jack, you're bleeding again."

He smiled weakly at her. "Sorry." The color had completely washed from his face, and he looked on the verge of passing out. "Y'okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little numb still, but I'll be fine." Sam moved to pull Jack against her this time, letting him lean on her so his back was supported by her chest.

"What happens now?" Megan—the female bank teller—came forward tentatively with the old man, Terry, and Alice beside her. William, Reggie, and Patrick were still on the floor with their hands tied, unable to do anything until the cops came in.

"The police are coming in. Everybody just sit down and try to stay calm; they'll be coming in with weapons raised, but don't be alarmed. It's standard procedure." Sam told everyone reassuringly.

When the rest of the hostages settled back, and she could hear the police making their way in the building, Sam held tightly to Jack, sweeping a hand through his hair and pressing a kiss to his cool, clammy cheek. "Hang in there, Jack. We'll be out of this soon."

.

"I'm surprised they let you go so soon," Daniel said with surprise as he sunk into the armchair.

Jack leaned back into the couch with a shrug, his bad leg propped up on the coffee table. "What can I say? I charmed them into releasing me a couple o' days early."

Sam snorted loudly beside him, playfully punching his arm. "You mean the doctors up here can't handle you like Janet can, and they just wanted you out of their hair as soon as possible."

Jack grinned goofily at her and waved a hand in dismissal. "Same thing."

"I do not believe it is, O'Neill." Teal'c piped in from the armchair opposite Daniel's and nearest to the fireplace. He got up to throw another log in.

"Can it, T," Jack grumbled, narrowing his eyes half-heartedly.

Sam giggled and curled up closer to Jack on the old sofa, pressing her cheek to his shoulder and just enjoying being close to him without the threat of armed robbers. "So, good vacation, huh?" She looked up at Jack and he chuckled lowly.

"Yeah." He scoffed. "Let's _not _do this again."

Leaning up to kiss his cheek, Sam nodded in agreement. "When we come up here for Christmas, let's not leave the cabin."

Jack laughed, grinning and turning his head to capture her lips, reaching over to cup her face with one hand. "Not a problem."

The sound of a throat clearing loudly broke up the moment. "Uh, guys? We're still here you know."

.The End.


End file.
